Justin Bieber Insists His Church Welcomes Everyone

Justin Bieber this week insisted his church is a welcoming place for people who identify as LGBTQ.

After leaving a service on Monday night, Bieber stopped to talk to fans waiting outside Hillsong Church in L.A. One young woman told him she was having difficulty finding a place of worship that was free of judgment.

“I came out as queer not long ago,” she told the Canadian pop star. “I’m trying to find a nice place.

“Everybody is so homophobic. I grew up Catholic and everybody’s such s**t.”

Bieber responded: “That’s the sad thing about religion. It can be like that sometimes. But that breaks my heart for you. I’m so sorry. That’s not OK.”

Bieber told the young woman she was welcome to attend any service at Hillsong Church.

“You're more than welcome to come any time,” he told her, before giving her a hug.

Trey Pearson, former singer with Christian band Everyday Sunday, called Bieber’s words “lovely” but said Hillsong is not an affirming church.

He told Billboard: “I wonder where Justin Bieber stands, because he has a bunch of LGBT fans, but he goes to a church that is not affirming. I wonder if he believes it’s wrong to be gay, because his church does.

“I love Justin Bieber as an artist and I think his heart is in a good place where he’s trying to do something good, but I just think that as good as these people are, they are still doing a lot of damage to the LGBT community.”

.@JustinBieber comforts a fan who opened up about the struggles of finding a church that is queer-inclusive, he ends up inviting her to his church:

“That’s the sad thing. It can be like that sometimes, yea. That breaks my heart for you. I’m so sorry. That’s not ok.” pic.twitter.com/VyWcOKQb6W